


The Italian Summer

by Quagswagging



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Feelings, First Kiss, Gen, Getting Together, Italy, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Pining, slight angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-08 20:33:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15251508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quagswagging/pseuds/Quagswagging
Summary: With the combination of Italian wine, lots of food and slightly cramped hotel rooms, Kimi thinks Italy might be the place he'll finally find the courage to tell Seb how he feels.





	1. The town

**Author's Note:**

> I am currently in Italy and it always surprises me how beautiful the country really is.  
> I visited Verona a couple of years back, and I thought it would be the perfect place to start of this story.
> 
> Or, Seb somehow convinces Kimi to travel through Italy with him.

Kimi gave his German teammate a skeptical look.

“A roadtrip? Through Italy?” he said.

“Yep.” Seb answered, popping the ‘p’ before taking another swig of his beer. “To celebrate our second season as teammates.”

“Just the two of us?” Kimi asked. Seb nodded, but his smile was falling a little, clearly expecting Kimi to reject the proposal.

“Okay. Fine, 2 weeks.” Kimi said. Seb perked up and promptly hugged the older man.

“This is gonna be so much fun!” 

~~  
Kimi was regretting his decision when Seb showed him the car he had bought especially for the occasion, a very small, very old and very red Fiat 500.

“I swear to god if you’re gonna name the car…”

“...and it’s called Lorena.” Seb finished his story before blushing a little and giving Kimi a sheepish smile.

“Too late?” he offered. Kimi just sighed and threw his back in the backseat. He normally.could take Seb’s enthusiasm pretty well, but not when it was only 8AM and they had already taken a flight to Milan. He got in on the passenger side, Seb already giddily smiling at him from the driver seat.

“Ready to go?”

“Bwoah..”

“I take it as a yes.”

~~  
They had decided to avoid the cities as much as possible as to not attract too much attention. They knew that without Ferrari gear, they were pretty unrecognisable already, but they decided to not take too many chances. 

And so, they drove from from the airport to Verona, which Kimi mused was still touristy enough that some tourists might recognize them, but Seb told him he simply hád to see the Romeo and Juliet balcony.

Kimi knew better than to object and decided to just go along with Seb’s plans. A happy Sebby was a rather content Kimi afterall. 

It was a relatively short drive, an hour or so, but Seb never stopped talking, going on and on about the story of Romeo and Juliet, which Kimi had never bothered to properly learn about. He only knew they died, that seemed like the only important detail. 

In the end, they somehow succeeded in getting the trip to take up most of the day since Kimi couldn’t be bothered reading the map and Seb was pretty sure ‘he knew this piece of Italy like the back of his hand.’ 

Still, when seated in a tiny, family-run trattoria, and watching Seb go into the kitchen with the owner as they tried to figure out all the food names Seb couldn’t translate, Kimi smiled to himself. He still couldn’t quite understand why he had agreed to this trip, but then again, it was Seb. And no matter how much Kimi tried to deny it, Seb was special to him.

~~

They found a small bed and breakfast in the centre of the town, which even Kimi had to admit, was very pretty. Seb went in to arrange a room since his Italian was slightly better than Kimi’s, while Kimi stayed in the car, looking as bored as ever.

Just as Kimi was starting to wonder where Seb was, the German came out of the building with a triumphant expression on his face.

“We got the last available room!” he announced proudly. Kimi raised an eyebrow as he stepped out of the cramped car.

“One room?” he asked. Seb blushed.

“I eh… I thought you wouldn’t mind..? I can still try to change it, or we go somewhere else…”

“It’s fine.” Kimi interrupted. “I was just teasing you.” Seb gave him a relieved smile before softly hitting his shoulder. He mumbled something under his breath that Kimi was pretty sure was the German equivalent of ‘you piece of shit” and opened the back of the car to get out the bags. 

Seb blushed an even deeper shade of red when they entered the little room and saw it was a double bed, not a twin room as Seb had claimed to be able to arrange. 

“It’s fine Sebby.” Kimi said, dropping his bag on the right side of the bed as the dumbfounded German stayed near the door.

“I’m sorry…” Seb mumbled, looking miserable. Kimi surprised even himself by walking over to briefly hug the pouting man.

“As long as you don’t snore, we’ll survive.” he teased.

 

~~~~~~~

 

“Kimi?”

“...Yes.”

“I’m glad you’re here with me.” Seb murmured. Kimi sleepily turned over to face him, reaching out to clumsily brush his knuckles over Seb’s cheek, which would have ended up with a black eye for Sebastian, had the German not caught his hand in time.

“I’m glad to be here with you.” he murmured in answer, his eyes fluttering closed again already. Seb smiled softly, scooting a little closer to lean in to Kimi’s touch, his hand pressed against Kimi’s, which was still resting against his cheek.

“Promise me we’ll never be like Nico and Lewis?” Seb suddenly whispered, after a long moment of silence. Kimi blinked.

“What part?” he asked

“What do you mean?” Seb frowned in confusion. 

“The fighting or the fact that they are dating.” Kimi clarified.

“Are they? Oh... “ Seb fell quiet for a moment. “I meant the fighting, the whole dating thing, I eh… nevermind.” Sebastian rolled onto his back. Kimi frowned and rolled onto his back as well. 

They both stared up at the ceiling, neither man sure what to say.

“Goodnight Kimi.” Seb eventually said.

“Goodnight Seb.”

~~  
When Kimi woke up the next morning, Seb was gone already. The Finn sighed and got up to shuffle into the bathroom. The cold water from the shower woke him up slightly, and when he walked back into the room, Seb was back, together with a bag of assorted breads and goods.

“Morning!” Seb said cheerily. Kimi only grunted in return, walking over to his suitcase to sort through his clothes. Seb was happily babbling away at him as usual, but when Kimi unceremoniously dropped his towel to get dressed, his words stopped for just a moment.

The little squeak Seb let out before continuing to talk was enough to make Kimi smirk.

~~

After breakfast they went into the town, towards the balcony hidden away on a small courtyard. Seb bought a small booklet and read out the summarised story of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to Kimi. 

Kimi wasn’t listening, and instead glanced at a small red letterbox attached to the cobblestone wall. Giulietta was painted on it with elegant white letters. A girl with red-rimmed eyes walked up to it, sighed, and pushed a letter into the small opening. 

“The love-sick travel here to ask Giulietta for advice.” someone spoke up behind them. A lean, dark haired girl was standing in the doorway of the tiny information centre, smiling sadly as she watched the girl leave. Seb stopped his story.

“They actually do? I thought it was fiction, from that movie from a while back.” he said. The girl chuckled.

“It really is true. Has been tradition for many years. People posting their letters here to ask for advice, or so they can at least tell someone what troubles their hearts” she explained. “Giulietta is often their last resort.” she added, before getting distracted by an older woman grabbing her arm and leading her away. 

~~

They spend the rest of the day lazily strolling around the quaint town, seeing all the Shakespeare inspired museums and shops mixed in with heavenly smelling restaurants. 

Seb led him to a small place for lunch, ordering food for the both of them with complementary red whines. Kimi watched as Sebastian tried to converse with the mother of the owner, an older lady who smiled appreciatively at Seb’s Italian efforts.  
Kimi took in the relaxed look on his teammate’s face, the way his nose wrinkled up a little as Seb carefully tried to find the right words. He looked younger when he was relaxed like this, more like the Seb Kimi first got to know all those years ago.

Kimi chuckled quietly to himself. Seb had been barely more than a scrawny kid back then, but had shown some real determination as he tried to befriend the elusive Iceman. Kimi had tried to keep him at a distance, but eventually, and completely unexpectedly, found himself wirt a new friend. 

In his head, he had always compared younger Sebastian to a puppy, a bit clumsy, but also fiercely loyal and protective, a protectiveness that Kimi also showed towards him. 

Then they had both grown up, and contrary to Kimi’s fears, Seb’s loyalty towards him had never strained, not even when Kimi left Formula 1 for rallying.

When he got back, Seb was no longer a kid, but had not lost his everlasting enthusiasm. Seb had picked up his friendship with Kimi from where they had left off, no questions asked, and Kimi had never felt more grateful.

From then on, Kimi found himself watching the German differently, for the first time realising just how much the German meant to him, but kept quiet. Seb’s friendship was one of the things he valued most, and in no way would he risk it.

“...Kimi?” Seb’s voice drew him out of his thoughts. Kimi blinked.

“Sorry, drifted off a little there.” he murmured. Seb smiled.

“It’s okay, those things happens when you get older.” he said with a wink. Kimi glared at him, but instead of speaking, he picked up his fork to start on the plate of delicious smelling pasta. 

~~

That night, Seb was already fast asleep while Kimi was still trying to somehow get comfortable. He turned onto his side and watched Seb for a moment, the way his lips were slightly parted as he breathed deeply and how his long eyelashes fluttered slightly.

“...Kimi?” Seb asked hoarsely, his eyes starting to open as he felt the Finn looking at him. Kimi shushed him, carding his fingers through Seb’s unruly hair.

“Sleep Seb, I’m fine.” he muttered with all the gentleness he didn’t dare show when the German was truly awake. Seb hummed contently, pressing his face against Kimi’s shoulder before his breathing evened out again. 

Kimi carefully untangled himself from Seb and got up, sorting through his bags for a piece of paper and a pen. He tore off a small piece.

‘Taking a walk, go back to sleep Seb’ he wrote onto it, and dropped it on his pillow. Armed with the pen and the remainder of the sheet of paper, he leaned in to press a quick kiss to Seb’s head before leaving. 

On a small bench near Casa di Giulietta he started writing

Dear Juillet,

He crossed it out again, not comfortable with the sappy way of writing.

In the end, what he did write was very brief.

I fell in love with my best friend, and there is no way I’ll ever have the guts to tell him.

He walked over to the mailbox, folding the paper a couple of times. He held it out but couldn’t set himself to push it in.

He promised himself to do it to next morning, just before they left Verona for whatever Seb had planned next. 

As he walked back to the hotel, Kimi sighed. He didn’t even have the guts to anonymously tell someone about his feelings, let alone the guts to tell Seb.


	2. The Ruins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to update this much sooner, but only just got around to it :3
> 
> This is based on my experiences in both Napoli and Pompeii, so more personal than factual
> 
> More to come soon!

“Want to go to Napoli next? We could visit Pompeiï?” Seb said during breakfast. Kimi hummed and shrugged.

“Sure.” he grumbled in answer, still sipping his first coffee. Sebastian grinned,not even fazed by Kimi’s moods anymore, and told them he would pack the bags while Kimi finished his coffee.

~~

Later, Kimi somehow convinced Seb he would take a turn driving, the German not having let him so far. It didn’t take long before Seb dozed off in the passenger seat, his head resting against the small window as Kimi drove, careful enough not to wake his teammate. 

It was a long drive to Napoli, and about halfway there; Kimi stopped at a gas station to get some bottles of water and to fill up the car. He decided to let Seb sleep a moment longer without the bumps and movements of the road and parked to car close to some trucks, watching the drivers talking to each other with exaggerated hand movements

Just as he was starting to get bored, he saw Seb shift slightly in his seat. Kimi opened the door and knelt so he was at the same level as the German.

Seb let out a sleepy noise, his eyes fluttering open slightly.

“Wake up Seb, if you sleep longer you’ll be insufferable later.” Kimi said gruffly. Seb made another grumpy noise but opened his eyes. 

“Fine.” he murmured, before yelping as Kimi lifted the hem of his shirt and pressed a very cold water bottle against the exposed skin.

“Asshole.” Seb snapped at him, but stayed awake after that.

~~

 

They arrived in Napels late in the afternoon, finding another bed and breakfast with a gruff lady showing them a tiny, but strangely charming room. 

Kimi had to reassure Seb yet again he didn’t mind sharing a room. Honestly, he always felt more comfortable having the younger man near.

The went out for another large dinner, Seb insisting they’d try a couple of different wines, and Seb pulled Kimi to a small tourist information stand afterwards to book a trip to Pompei for the next day.

Completely full of food, and slightly tipsy after too much wine, Kimi and Seb fell onto the bed, Kimi’s eyes already starting to flutter close when suddenly Seb rolled onto his side, one arm slung over Kimi’s stomach as he cuddled close. Kimi was too tired to push the German away and instead only shifted a little so he could hold him more comfortably, burying his face in Seb’s soft curls. 

Kimi thought he felt Seb’s lips on the corner of his mouth as he drifted off to sleep, but that could only have been a dream.

~~

Seb had arranged for a unguided tour through Pompei, wanting to see everything at his own speed. Kimi didn’t mind, he was already happy that that meant he had to socialise with less people. 

Kimi noticed that throughout their walk through the ruins, Seb kept brushing their hands together as they walked, and squeezing Kimi’s wrist when he saw something worthy of the Finn’s attention. Kimi decided not to remark over it, not willing to interpret the gestures wrongly. 

It was quite haunting, seeing the ruins, so well kept after so much bad luck and disaster, but even more haunting were the bodies, covered in a layer of volcanic stone, mapping out the people that had laid below. 

They were both quiet in front of the glass, looking down at the remainders, stuck in their very last moment forever. There, Seb did take Kimi’s hand, squeezing it gently as he shuffled closer to the Finn. 

They turned away and watched the looming volcano nearby. Kimi let go of Seb’s hand and wrapped an arm around his shoulders instead when Seb let out a shuddering breath. 

“I can’t imagine what that must have been like… Not understanding what was going in until it was too late… No way you can save yourself, or the ones you love…” Seb murmured, leaning in to Kimi’s embrace and shuddering. Kimi pressed a soft kiss to his temple. 

“Come on.” he said softly, leading Sebastian away.

~~  
After Pompeii, they decided to explore Napoli. It wasn't quite what they expected. The city was loud and chaotic, cars honking and people yelling at each other. Seb seemed a little flustered, but Kimi didn’t seem bothered, watching the chaos around him with a passive expression on his face. 

They arrived at some sort of food market, where the chaos only seemed to increase. Still, the food smelled amazing and Seb seemed excited to try it. 

“I’ll grab some food, wait here, okay?” Kimi said. Seb nodded, giving a little wave as the Finn got in line.

Kimi somehow succeeded in ordering and receiving food, although he honestly wasn’t to sure what was in the sauce since the lady had only yelled ‘Meat!’ at him when he asked. 

He wrestled his way back to the place he had left Sebastian, but the German was not there. 

He looked around for signs of the blonde German, but did not see him anywhere. 

“Seb?” he tried. He felt a sudden flash of panic. “Sebastian?” he stuffed the containers of food he had gotten in the plastic bag with a container with olive oil Seb had bought.

“Sebastian?” he tried again. Some people gave him weary looks and pushed past him, but he still could not see Sebastian. Kimi cursed under his breath. If anything had happened to Sebastian, he would never forgive himself 

Rushing out of the marketplace, he frantically searched for signs of the German. 

“Sebastian!” he called out. “Seb!” he felt his heart beat quicken considerably. Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder, and Kimi twirled around to come to come with Sebastian, who looked a little pale. Kimi immediately pulled the German close, hugging him tightly. 

“Why the hell did you leave? You idiot!” he snapped when he pushed away. Sebastian blushed and looked away. 

“I got overwhelmed, sorry I didn’t want you to panic…” Seb said, arms folded over his chest. Kimi sighed and leaned in to hug him a second time.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to shout.” he said. Sebastian clutched on to him, eying their surroundings with wide eyes

“Can we go back to the hotel now?” Sebastian murmured. Kimi nodded.

“Sure.”

~~~

Sebastian seemed a little flustered as they sat cross legged opposite each other on the bed, eating the mystery meat pasta. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you…” Sebastian murmured as Kimi pushed a piece of meat around with his fork. Kimi glanced up at him.

“It’s fine.” he said. “You got overwhelmed, I understand.” Seb nodded.

“I shouldn’t have left like that though.” he whispered as Kimi got up to put the food away. Kimi walked back and patted Sebastian’s shoulder.

“It’s okay Sebby, really.” he said.

~~   
Sebastian was restless that night, shuffling around on the bed until it was starting to annoy Kimi.

“Seb, calm down.” he snapped. He felt Sebastian freeze next to him with a sharp intake of breath. 

“Sorry.” the German murmured. Kimi rolled onto his side to face him, Sebastian blinking up at him for a moment before curling into himself a little more.

“Come here Sebby.” Kimi muttered, followed by a yawn. He pulled his teammate close, smiling lightly as Seb snuggled against his chest. He rubbed Sebastian’s back, feeling his relax under his touch.

“So where are we going tomorrow?” he muttered, face pressed against Kimi’s neck.

“How about somewhere more calm? A beach perhaps?”

“Sounds like a plan.”


	3. The Island

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sicily is one of the most beautiful places I've visited, and I had t include it in this fic :3
> 
> There will probably be only 1 more chapter, 2 if I'm generous, so stay tuned ;)

The day after, Kimi woke up long before Sebastian, who was still contently curled against Kimi’s side. Kimi gently untangled himself, pressing a kiss against Sebastian’s temple as the German grumbled something incoherently.

Kimi went into the livingroom to make some calls, and by the time Sebastian sleepily shuffled into the room, he had arranged their next accomodation. 

“We’re going to Sicily?” Seb asked in surprise as he leaned over Kimi’s shoulder to look at the pictures Kimi was showing him. Kimi nodded.

“Yeah, the apartment has a private beach, so no crowds.” he said. Seb smiled a little weakly.

“I’m really sorry about freaking out yesterday.” he muttered.

“It’s fine.” Kimi answered, patting his hand. “Now, we better get going, it’s about a 5 to 6 hour drive, and we need to take a boat to the island as well.” he explained. Sebastian nodded excitedly.

“This will be fun.” he chuckled, leaning in to kiss Kimi’s cheek. “Thanks for arranging this.” Kimi huffed, trying not to blush.

“Just pack already” he eventually answered.

~~

Kimi had not realised the apartment had two separate bedrooms. Judging from the look on Seb’s face, the German obviously thought it had to do with him.

“I eh… I’ll take the small room…” Seb murmured, looking quite miserable. Kimi grabbed his wrist as he turned to leave.

“Wait, only one room has air conditioning, so eh, maybe it’s better to share..?” he asked quietly. A hesitant smile came to Seb’s lips again.

“Okay, but don’t snore this time!” he added cheekily, visibly relaxing. Kimi rolled his eyes.

“Whatever.”

~~

The private beach was rocky, but also very beautiful. Small colourful fish swimming around in the clear water. Kimi had gone out to buy snorkeling equipment, and Seb had been in the water for practically 2 hours now.

By the time he finally got out of the water, he was exhausted, and his back and neck slightly sunburned. He flopped down on his towel, rolling onto his stomach. It wasn’t very comfortable with all the rocks under him, but he’d have to make do. 

He heard Kimi chuckle next to him before shuffling around. Seb squeaked when he felt a very cold hand on his back and looked up to glare at the Finn. Kimi shushed him

“Just putting some sunscreen on you, idiot.” he murmured, spreading the cream over Seb’s back. Seb purred as Kimi’s fingers massaged his sore muscles and stretched out contently.

“You’re the best Kimi.” Seb muttered groggily. Kimi smiled, squeezing his bicep lightly.

“I know.”

~~

Even with Kimi’s sunscreen, Seb still succeeded in burning his back. It was bothering quite a bit as they sat on the chairs on the small terrace, the backrest of the chair uncomfortable against the sensitive skin.

“There is some Aloë in my bag I think.” Kimi said, taking another sip of wine.

“Awesome, I’ll grab that real quick.” Seb answered, getting up. Kimi just nodded, contently closing his eyes for a moment in the gentle summer air.

Sebastian went into their room and rummaged around in Kimi’s bag for the Aloë. He came across a small slip of paper and almost mindlessly pushed it aside, until he saw who it was addressed to.

He took a closer look at the text and took in a sharp breath.

_I fell in love with my best friend, and there is no way I’ll ever have the guts to tell him. ___

____

____

He was still trying to decide what the hell this meant when Kimi came into the room.

“Can you find it? It might be in one of the side-” he trailed of once he saw what Seb was looking at.

“Kimi…” Sebastian said almost breathlessly. He took a step towards the Finn, but Kimi scrambled backwards, a panicked look on his face.

“No...no no no!” he turned around and before Sebastian stop him, Kimi bolted out of the apartment, leaving Seb to wonder what had just happened.

After a rather long moment of confusion, Sebastian rushed after Kimi.

“Kimi! Wait, please!” he called out running over the narrow path towards the beach. He became painfully aware of the fact he wasn’t wearing shoes, the rocks cutting into his feet. He clenched his jaw and only ran faster, worried about his Finn.

He found Kimi near the water, sitting on one of the larger rocks with his back turned to Seb. Sebastian carefully neared him and sat down next to him. 

Kimi sat rigidly, hands clenched on his lap. Seb ignored his feet, which had started to throb, and turned to face him.

“Kimi, look at me, please.” he asked softly. Kim shuddered, his eyes closing.

“I’m sorry.” he rasped, still not looking at the German. “I know that you… you don’t…” 

“Kimi…” Seb begged, hand coming to Kimi’s cheek to force him to turn his head. Still, Kimi tried to avert his eyes.

“I’m so sorry Sebastian, I ruined it, I’ll find a different hotel and…” his ramblings got cut off by a pair of soft lips on his. 

The kiss was only brief and when Sebastian pulled away again, it took a moment before Kimi’s eyes fluttered open again, his lips slightly parted.

“Seb?” he still sounded confused, showing much more emotion than he normally would. Sebastian gently rested their foreheads together.

“I’m in love with you too, you idiot.” the German whispered. Kimi’s eyes widened slightly. 

“I don’t…” he fumbled for words. Sebastian frowned, suddenly afraid he misread the situation. The letter had just said ‘best friend’, no name, but Seb had automatically assumed it had been about him. He dropped his hands from Kimi’s face, moving away a little. 

“Sorry…” he mumbled. That seemed to snap Kimi out of his trance, he leaned in, but suddenly noticed the state of Sebastian’s feet.

“Seb, you’re bleeding.” he noted. Sebastian shrugged.

“Didn’t have time to put on my shoes.” he said. Kimi smiled softly, leaning in to ever so lightly brush their lips together. Seb let out a shaky breath, staying close after, their foreheads resting together. Kimi smiled gently

“Come on, I’ll have a look at your feet back in the apartment.” he stood up and helped Sebastian to his feet, the German pulling a face at the pain. 

“I’ll carry you.” Kimi said, turning away and tapping his shoulders. Seb swallowed thickly and wrapped his arms around Kimi’s neck, hopping onto the Finn’s back. He cuddled close as Kimi started to walk, resting his cheek against the side of Kimi’s head.

“Thank you.”

~~

They cuddled onto the bed together once Kimi had cleaned the shallow cuts on Sebastian’s feet, Kimi laying on his back with Seb half on top of him. Kini wasn’t exactly comfortable like that, but he didn’t have the heart to tell Sebastian.

“So what now…” Seb suddenly mused, rolling over and resting his chin on Kimi’s chest to look at him. Kimi chuckled.

“Now I get to kiss you.” he whispered, pressing their lips together. Sebastian chuckled but pulled away.

“But I mean… Are we like… together?” he muttered. Kimi smiled gently.

“I... let’s take it slow. I don’t want to ruin this.” Kimi whispered, seeming a little flustered about showing so much emotion to the German yet again. Sebastian nodded.

“Okay.” he said softly, cuddling close to Kimi. “We still have a few more days here in Italy to figure everything out.”

Kimi sighed, brushing his fingers over Sebastian’s face, tracing his cheekbones, followed by his his jaw and lips…

“Yeah, under the Italian sun, I’m sure we’ll figure it out.” he whispered, his fingers making room for his lips. Sebastian gasped, tilting his head to give Kimi better access. Kimi rolled them over, smiling down at Seb under him.

“I love you…” he purred in his ear. Seb let out another shaky breath.

“I love you too.”


End file.
